Accident in Boston’s Big Dig Kills Woman in Car

Firefighters inspected fallen slabs in the South Boston tunnel. The highway was closed in both directions.Credit
Michael Dwyer/Associated Press

BOSTON, July 11 — Four concrete slabs, each weighing at least three tons, fell from the ceiling of a Big Dig tunnel here on Monday night, crushing a woman to death in a car.

The accident set off recriminations from top elected officials who sought the firing of the head of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and started a criminal investigation.

It was the first time in the long history of the project that someone riding in a tunnel was killed by what seems to be a construction failure, the state police said.

The accident, which led to the closing of the tunnel highway that connects the city and Logan International Airport, follows leaks, cost overruns and other problems that have raised questions about the $14.6 billion Big Dig, the central highway system through Boston. Until now, officials have said the problems did not threaten motorists’ safety.

“People should not have to drive through the turnpike tunnels with their fingers crossed,” said Mr. Romney, a Republican who is considering running for president. “I don’t think anybody today can feel comfortable driving through those tunnels knowing that the chairman of the turnpike authority has said they were safe, only to have a three-ton section fall down and kill someone.”

Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly said that his office considered the tunnel a crime scene, that it was looking into possible criminal charges and that it had subpoenaed people involved in the construction, design, manufacturing and testing of the tunnel materials.

“What we are looking at is anyone who had anything to do with what happened last night,” Mr. Reilly, a Democratic candidate for governor, said. “No one is going to be spared.”

Mr. Amorello, a former Republican state senator, said he would not step down, but would work “together cooperatively” with the governor and attorney general to find out what went wrong. He repeated that “these tunnels are safe” and added, “Any shortcoming, any shortcut that was made” will be uncovered.

“This was a horrible, horrible event, and it was an anomaly, and we will get to the bottom of what happened,” Mr. Amorello said.

The accident occurred around 11 p.m. in a 200-foot section that links Interstate 93 and the Massachusetts Turnpike to the Ted Williams Tunnel, leading to Logan International Airport. Four panels fell when a metal tieback anchoring them to the ceiling gave way, Mr. Amorello said.

The victim, Milena Delvalle, 38, a restaurant worker from the Jamaica Plain neighborhood, was crushed in the passenger seat of a 1991 Buick. The driver, her husband, Angel, 46, climbed out a window opening no more than a foot wide and was slightly injured, the state police said.

Mr. Delvalle’s cousin Lobel Navarro said Mr. Delvalle, who works in a Hi-Lo supermarket in Jamaica Plain, had tried in vain to pull his wife out of the car.

State officials closed the connector tunnel and the Ted Williams Tunnel, tying up traffic in a congested area. The Ted Williams Tunnel may reopen, at least in part, on Wednesday.

Mr. Amorello said the connector would not reopen until officials were sure that it was safe. He said inspectors were removing some ceiling panels to examine them.

In addition to the attorney general, the state police, Federal Highway Administration, United States attorney here and others said they were investigating the accident.

The Modern Continental Company of Cambridge, the contractor on that section of the highway, officially the Central Artery Tunnel Project, said in a statement that it was “cooperating fully with the investigation.”

“We are confident,” Modern Continental said, “that our work fully complied with the plans and specifications provided by the Central Artery Tunnel Project. In addition, the work was inspected and approved by the Central Artery Tunnel Project.”

Mr. Amorello said the panels formed a drop ceiling that allows air to circulate in the tunnel, which is below part of South Boston that is the site of a new convention center. The panels were installed in 1999, on metal tiebacks attached to the ceiling

About 20 other tunnel sections use a similar method, he said. In most other tunnel sections, metal tiebacks are attached to metal rails and not affixed directly in the ceiling, Mr. Amorello said, but in the 20 sectio+ns a rail system is not possible.

Mr. Amorello said the connector tunnel opened in 2003 and was “in the process” of undergoing an inspection that is conducted every three years.

Photo

Angel and Melina Delvalle, shown in a family wedding photograph, were in a car hit by huge slabs in the Big Dig tunnel.

The Big Dig, the largest public works project in the United States, began in 1991. Construction was recently completed, burying the elevated highway that once scissored off part of Boston. In coming years, the land over the highway is to be turned into parks, museums and other public spaces.

The project has been plagued with an array of problems. Budget overruns have mounted, and Attorney General Reilly, seeking to recover $108 million for construction defects and delays, is negotiation in settlement talks with the project manager, Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff. In the last year, hundreds of leaks have been found, as well as problems with walls and fireproofing. In May, six current and former employees of a concrete supplier were charged with fraudulently concealing that some concrete was of poor quality.

The death of Ms. Delvalle on her way to the airport with her husband to pick up his brother and family, who were arriving from Puerto Rico, makes safety questions more urgent.

“We don’t need a six-month study,” Mayor Thomas M. Menino said as he demanded more information about why the connector tunnel used a different ceiling-anchoring system. “We need an immediate reaction and action by the different authorities so that we can reassure the public as they drive into the city or drive over to the airport that the tunnel is safe to go through.”

Mr. Romney, who interrupted a vacation in New Hampshire and returned to Boston, has been seeking Mr. Amorello’s resignation for months, complaining about poor management and a lack of transparency, as well as his lack of control over the authority.

“It’s very frustrating being responsible for a state, but having a sliver of highway that I can’t oversee,” Mr. Romney said Tuesday.

Mr. Amorello did not attend an emergency meeting that the governor called on Tuesday about the accident, and the governor tracked him down at the accident site, saying something about “the mountain coming to Mohammed.”

Mr. Romney began the process of trying to oust Mr. Amorello, saying the tunnel death “substantially improves” his case.

Amid the swirl of political activity, motorists expressed anxiety and anger.

“I don’t think anyone has a good handle on the problem,” said Paige Scott-Reed, a lawyer from Brookline, who said her husband, a landscape architect, took the connector to work every morning. “I don’t think anyone knows what bits of tunnel are unsafe.”

Kate Leslie, 21, of Allston, questioned whether the years of Big Dig-related expenses and traffic tie-ups were worth it. “We spent billions and billions of dollars and all of those peoples’ time detouring everyone around the city and this poor woman is crushed,” she said. “I think it’s ridiculous. What’s her poor family supposed to do?’’

Ms. Delvalle’s family is devastated, said Mr. Navarro, her husband’s cousin. He said the couple had been married about a year and Ms. Delvalle, from Costa Rica, had three children and two stepchildren. Mr. Navarro said that Mr. Delvalle had minor injuries, but that “he’s getting treatment for his nerves.”

Bill Jordan, manager of Mr. Delvalle’s store, said Mr. Delvalle had called him in the morning saying: “ ‘I can’t come into work. I had a terrible thing happen on the way to the airport. There was a very bad accident, and my wife has died.’ ”

A version of this article appears in print on , on page A16 of the New York edition with the headline: 4 Ceiling Panels in Boston’s Big Dig Fall, Killing Woman in Car. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe